LawFesthttps://www.lawfest.nz
Innovation & Technology in LawWed, 20 Mar 2019 01:07:34 +0000en-NZhourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.9Practice Management: 5 Ways to Make Your Small Law Firm More Efficienthttps://www.lawfest.nz/practice-management-5-ways-to-make-your-small-law-firm-more-efficient/
https://www.lawfest.nz/practice-management-5-ways-to-make-your-small-law-firm-more-efficient/#respondTue, 26 Feb 2019 23:21:58 +0000https://www.lawfest.nz/?p=4713Long hours are typical for law firms, but how often do you find yourself underestimating your billable hours, or those “pass on” client costs? This can be especially problematic for smaller firms, where margins are already slim and practitioners are often juggling the many responsibilities of running a small business. Here are five things you […]

]]>Long hours are typical for law firms, but how often do you find yourself underestimating your billable hours, or those “pass on” client costs? This can be especially problematic for smaller firms, where margins are already slim and practitioners are often juggling the many responsibilities of running a small business. Here are five things you can do to make your practice management more efficient.

1. Adopt automated processes

Document handling is a big part of law practice, so it goes without saying that you can save a lot of time by automating tasks like document creation and assembly. Make the most of software that can automatically merge data into document templates. Also look at investing in tools that automate workflow management and CRM tasks. Research can also be streamlined significantly by moving from paper to digital media with query-based search capabilities.

2. Measure everything, analyse and evaluate

In a profession where analysis of evidence is the proverbial bread and butter, you should also be applying the same kind of scrutiny to your fee earners’ figures. This doesn’t necessarily have to mean a full audit at the end of each month – looking at a few key performance indicators will probably be enough. Also ensure key tools, such as your word-processing software, are maintained correctly and upgraded to newer versions when required.

3. Provide IT training for staff

Technophobia, and greater trust in older, paper-based ways of doing things, is often blamed for slow adoption of timesaving tools and technologies by smaller law firms. Formal IT training is a good way to tackle this problem. For best results, this training should include scenario-based teaching exercises as well as ongoing helpdesk support while staff adapt to new tools and technology.

4. Improve personal time management

Do you often find yourself getting distracted by emails, phone calls and meetings? These are all notorious productivity killers. Allocate specific periods during the day during where you handle electronic communications. Consider using a “no interruptions” time management policy such as the Pomodoro Technique, which splits the workday into 25-minute bursts of activity.

5. Encourage innovation

Quite simply, if you can see a way to do something more quickly and efficiently, don’t hesitate to speak up. Subscribe to industry journals, and look at other industries for ideas.

A small firm can improve its efficiencies in big ways – it simply requires letting go of the fear of change and embracing new (and better) ways of getting things done.

]]>https://www.lawfest.nz/practice-management-5-ways-to-make-your-small-law-firm-more-efficient/feed/0LawFest welcomes back the discounted Under 30 passhttps://www.lawfest.nz/lawfest-welcomes-back-the-discounted-under-30-ticket/
https://www.lawfest.nz/lawfest-welcomes-back-the-discounted-under-30-ticket/#respondMon, 27 Aug 2018 20:40:48 +0000https://www.lawfest.nz/?p=4202The ‘Under 30’ pass is back again for LawFest 2019, after its enormous success of its introduction earlier this year. This discounted ticket option is to encourage young legal professionals who may just be starting their career to attend New Zealand’s premier legal innovation and technology event, and to encourage them to champion adoption of […]

]]>The ‘Under 30’ pass is back again for LawFest 2019, after its enormous success of its introduction earlier this year.

This discounted ticket option is to encourage young legal professionals who may just be starting their career to attend New Zealand’s premier legal innovation and technology event, and to encourage them to champion adoption of technology within their firms and organisations.

We see young legal professionals as one of the driving forces behind innovative changes in law firms and legal teams, and believe it’s a smart way to ensure you’re utilising the young people within it to adapt for the future.

How law is practiced and delivered today is going to change significantly – young legal professionals today need to be at the forefront, to embrace the change and capitalise on the new opportunities.

You will hear the stories of those from New Zealand and abroad, that are innovating through leveraging technology to help deliver more effective legal services.

The ‘Under 30s’ ticket is not just for budding lawyers, as this is a great opportunity for the young support staff in your organisation to learn more and develop their skillset.

]]>https://www.lawfest.nz/lawfest-welcomes-back-the-discounted-under-30-ticket/feed/0Exciting new Tech Demos added for LawFest 2019https://www.lawfest.nz/exciting-new-tech-demos-added-for-lawfest-2019/
https://www.lawfest.nz/exciting-new-tech-demos-added-for-lawfest-2019/#respondThu, 05 Jul 2018 20:30:00 +0000https://www.lawfest.nz/?p=4042One of the exciting additions to LawFest 2019 is the introduction of ‘Tech Demos’. LawFest is the only event in New Zealand that provides this unique opportunity to see the products and services of leading technology providers. We are taking it one step further at LawFest 2019 to showcase even more technology through the day. […]

]]>One of the exciting additions to LawFest 2019 is the introduction of ‘Tech Demos’.

LawFest is the only event in New Zealand that provides this unique opportunity to see the products and services of leading technology providers. We are taking it one step further at LawFest 2019 to showcase even more technology through the day.

It is a great opportunity for delegates to have a ‘sneak peek’ at some of the great technology available, in a quick-fire presentation style.

With an industry built on the 6-minute unit, legaltech companies will have 6 minutes each to showcase what they have to offer. The presentations will be on a rolling basis throughout the day, followed by a short Q & A.

We have created a new premium location in front of the Exhibition Hall, where delegates can sit or stand in a relaxed surrounding with a coffee or even their lunch – as they get to see some of the latest technology available.

The technology on display will be a mix of established technologies, plus some new exciting start-ups. We have had considerable interest by tech companies to demo their solutions, and we are sure all of these demo opportunities will be taken up well in advance of the event.

The new tech demos will add even more value to the LawFest experience.

Make sure you are at LawFest 2019.

LawFest continues to lead the way in New Zealand to learn more about innovation and leveraging technology to help you deliver legal services, both for today and the future.

You can register now for LawFest 2019, with our 2 for 1 ticket offer + a great Under 30 ticket option.

]]>https://www.lawfest.nz/exciting-new-tech-demos-added-for-lawfest-2019/feed/0The opportunity to innovate through leveraging technologyhttps://www.lawfest.nz/the-opportunity-to-innovate-through-leveraging-technology/
https://www.lawfest.nz/the-opportunity-to-innovate-through-leveraging-technology/#respondSun, 29 Apr 2018 20:30:17 +0000https://www.lawfest.nz/?p=3848Technology is changing how we work in all aspects of life and the legal profession is no different. The profession is facing considerable change as growing pressures are forcing law firms to innovate in how they deliver their legal services. This is also impacting barristers and how they practice. Changing Landscape Traditionally the legal profession […]

]]>Technology is changing how we work in all aspects of life and the legal profession is no different. The profession is facing considerable change as growing pressures are forcing law firms to innovate in how they deliver their legal services.

This is also impacting barristers and how they practice.

Changing Landscape

Traditionally the legal profession has been slow adopters of technology, but this is changing as barristers need to explore how legal services are delivered, largely to better meet the demands of their clients.

For many, legal innovation is simply exploring new ways to deliver legal services.

Trends are showing consumers of legal services are starting to look for fixed or capped fee structures, are wanting more value at a lower price, and are not necessarily looking to traditional legal resources for legal services, they’re going to innovative professional service firms that offer a wider range of options.

The fundamental practice of law will remain the same, although it’ll be enhanced by innovation and use of technology to deliver legal services faster and more accurately.

New Opportunities

Innovation should be embraced as an opportunity and not seen as a threat.

Innovation through leveraging technology is becoming a game changer for providing legal services. It is the opportunity to do things better, better than what we do at present and for less money. The profession is only starting to take advantage of the opportunities that technology brings – opportunities that many other industries have embraced for many years.

Different parts of the journey

Many are at different parts of this journey – some will be at the forefront of legal innovation, whilst others will only be starting this journey.

Those just starting’s experience may be considerably different to those at the forefront of innovation and leveraging technology. Even if you are not innovating yourself, or simply just starting your innovation journey, it is important to be aware of what is available, what others are doing and what the future holds.

Being tech savvy is becoming an essential skill for practitioners and will become more so as technology evolves further. We’re seeing refreshing examples of those who see the opportunities in exploring new ways to innovate and drive efficiency, and a growing number of legal professionals recognising that to address these pressures and challenges they need to look to technology.

The legal profession need to re-skill to take advantage of the developments in technology to stay relevant in your particular field. This could require many to diversify their skillset. This in turn creates a whole different area of law embark on.

You do not have to be a mechanic to be able to drive a car !

There should not be an expectation that barristers need to learn technology so in-depth, or even learn to code or develop software. Technology will never do everything, critical skills like analysis, judgement and problem solving are just as important as they have ever been, it is just that technology can be used to assist in this.

It will help to be aware of the solutions that are available, to help you perform your job better.

What’s new?

How we access case law, research, manage documents, dictate, bill and communicate is all changing. These tasks previously were manual exercises and took considerable time to complete. Many of these tasks are now being performed quicker, cheaper and more accurately through the assistance of technology.

Artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, court technology, the general automation of repeatable tasks and embracing the cloud is becoming more mainstream.

Artificial intelligence

AI is all around us with examples like Siri, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Netflix, Amazon, Spotify and Pandora radio. These are all forms of AI with recommendations tailored to your previous choices. This is learning from the information that the technology has put together, related to your preferences.

The same technology can also be applied to the practice of law, to make barristers life easier, to work smarter and ultimately ensure you are more profitable.

AI involves machines performing work that traditionally could only be completed by humans, although also has the potential to go deeper having machines think like humans. AI capability is moving ahead at a rapid rate, although we are still a long way off lawyers becoming obsolete.

As far as AI relating to the automation of repetitive and routine tasks, some of the uses include –

Legal research

Document generation and templates

Due diligence

eDiscovery

Chat boxes or Robo-advice

A prominent example of AI earlier this year was JP Morgan developing a program called COIN for contract intelligence which interprets commercial-loan agreements, that had previously taken 360,000 hours of lawyers’ time annually.

eDiscovery is a process that has long embraced AI and automation. There are tools that help to provide smarter ways to address a process that can quickly become time consuming and costly, especially with the ever-increasing volumes of data. Technology Assisted Review is popular as it can save barristers hundreds of hours looking at documents.

Blockchain

Blockchain is a development that is still in its infancy, especially for the practice of law.

Put simply, Blockchain is a piece of software with a digital ledger of information. This includes a record of transactions grouped into blocks with references back to data in previous blocks. This creates a chain of blocks, known as blockchain. Transactions are broadcast to all participants to be validated. The use of blockchain will evolve, but is often used for identification, copyright and patents, Smart Contracts with share trading and property auctions.

Court technology

Technology that is used in a courtroom is developing significantly.

Preparing briefs, pleadings can be hyperlinked to documents, with the ability to collaborate and annotate key evidence. How technology is used preparing for trial (whether it be a courtroom or an online process), will evolve. At present the use of technology is largely imitating the same practices as conducted with paper. This is not always more efficient, and not innovative.

Embracing the cloud

The cloud is dramatically transforming how barristers work.

Embracing the cloud is an appealing option for barristers that will not have the big budgets of large law firms or corporates to make an expensive investment in on premise technology. In almost all circumstances cloud solutions are more cost effective, more secure, and enable greater access to leading technology that barristers may never have been able to buy themselves.

What does the future hold?

These developments will continue to transform how the profession practices. They will help make barristers life easier, work faster and ultimately more profitable.

In the future, there will be further automation of tasks that are time consuming, costly and presently performed by humans. There will be a greater adoption of AI, and embracing the cloud to improve the access and cost of these solutions. The profession will be able to focus on practicing law and providing expert legal advice for their clients, instead of being restricted by time consuming administrative tasks.

Even if the legal profession is not currently embracing some of the technologies available, it is important to keep abreast of what opportunities that technology may bring, both today and into the future. Those that are open to innovation and embracing technology will be the ones that lead the way. The ones that choose not to, could be left behind by an increasingly competitive market.

There are exciting legal tech start-ups in New Zealand. Some are led by lawyers, who have identified a problem and developed a solution to address these issues. To name a few we see the work of Automio, LawHawk, LawVu, and CataLex.

Be part of what LawFest has to offer

LawFest continues to lead the way in New Zealand in raising awareness and preparing the profession for what comes next.

After the success of LawFest 2018, which attracted over 250 legal professionals from across the country, LawFest 2019 is back again in Auckland on 21 March 2019. There is a limited time 2 for 1 ticket offer to encourage even more legal professionals with an interest in innovation and technology.

The NZ Legal Technology Index and the LawFest membership are both fantastic new initiatives. The membership enables greater access to anyone interested in learning more about innovation and leveraging technology, whilst the index enables legal professionals to explore and connect with the right people and right technology to solve business challenges, to help deliver legal services more efficiently.

This article was originally published in the New Zealand Bar Association’s ‘At The Bar’.

]]>https://www.lawfest.nz/the-opportunity-to-innovate-through-leveraging-technology/feed/0LawFest 2018 – Preparing the legal profession to deliver legal services for today & the futurehttps://www.lawfest.nz/lawfest-2018-preparing-the-legal-profession-to-deliver-legal-services-for-today-the-future/
https://www.lawfest.nz/lawfest-2018-preparing-the-legal-profession-to-deliver-legal-services-for-today-the-future/#respondMon, 23 Apr 2018 20:45:03 +0000https://www.lawfest.nz/?p=3844New Zealand’s legal innovation and technology LawFest event on 8 March attracted over 250 legal professionals from across the country. The event has come a long way since its beginnings 6 years ago. It is now the must do New Zealand legal conference of the year, as more legal professionals look to learn more about […]

]]>New Zealand’s legal innovation and technology LawFest event on 8 March attracted over 250 legal professionals from across the country.

The event has come a long way since its beginnings 6 years ago. It is now the must do New Zealand legal conference of the year, as more legal professionals look to learn more about innovation and leveraging technology to help deliver legal services, both for today and the future.

At a time where there is more pressure on organisations and law firms to operate more efficiently and effectively, LawFest explores the opportunities of innovation through leveraging technology. It provided the opportunity to learn about what innovation looks like, and the innovative practices others are adopting in this fast changing and disruptive area.

The Highlights

Keynote speaker Sir Ray Avery, described by attendees as an “inspiring and motivational start to the day”, led the line-up of over 20 speakers including Mai Chen, Craig Columbus, David Harvey, Caroline Ferguson, Claudia King and many more.

The programme provided leading practical examples of what is happening, encouraging creative thinking, collaboration and leveraging technology to enable innovation. Topics explored included cyber-security, blockchain, AI, tech and law-firm partnerships, innovating as an in-house lawyer, the business of law during changing times, and looking at disruption as ‘normal’, as well as Craig Columbus’ real time live hacking example !

In addition to the thought-provoking and educational plenary sessions, an exciting addition was the introduction of four practical and engaging workshops, with the opportunity to discuss and get deeper into topics of interest. Workshops were on In-house innovation, People process & technology, Is Disruptive Legal Practice the New Normal? and Technology for Law, ADR and practice. These workshops were expertly facilitated by Caroline Ferguson, Terri Mottershead, Lloyd Gallgaher, Sarah Taylor and Stephen Mullins.

LawFest culminated with the highly entertaining Annual LawFest Debate, where students and alumni from Otago and Auckland University debated “That technology has rendered law degrees obsolete”. New Zealand’s leading technology Judge David Harvey expertly adjudicated the debate, where Otago University came out victors.

The MC for the day was renown Australian law firm CEO Warrick McLean from Coleman Greig, who kept all informed and entertained.

The opportunity to see the solutions…

A large part of LawFest is bringing together legal professionals with the technology providers, where delegates can see the products and services available in the exhibition hall. This year the event attracted the greatest number of providers of legal technology, many of which are new players in this quickly evolving industry.

LawFest 2018 also created its first ‘innovation zone’ showcasing many new tech businesses just starting out. Delegates had the opportunity to interact with providers into the legal industry throughout the day, as well as network with those from other firms.

Be part of what LawFest has to offer

LawFest continues to lead the way in New Zealand in raising awareness and preparing the profession for what comes next.

After the success of LawFest 2018, LawFest 2019 is back again in Auckland on 21 March 2019. There is a limited time 2 for 1 ticket offer to encourage even more legal professionals with an interest in innovation and technology.

The NZ Legal Technology Index and the LawFest membership are both fantastic new initiatives. The membership enables greater access to anyone interested in learning more about innovation and leveraging technology, whilst the index enables legal professionals to explore and connect with the right people and right technology to solve business challenges, to help deliver legal services more efficiently.

]]>https://www.lawfest.nz/lawfest-2018-preparing-the-legal-profession-to-deliver-legal-services-for-today-the-future/feed/0Legal Technology Index First of Its Kind in New Zealandhttps://www.lawfest.nz/legal-technology-index-first-of-its-kind-in-new-zealand/
https://www.lawfest.nz/legal-technology-index-first-of-its-kind-in-new-zealand/#respondMon, 16 Apr 2018 20:47:45 +0000https://www.lawfest.nz/?p=3657This week LawFest NZ launched the country’s first index of legal technology businesses for legal professionals. The NZ Legal Technology Index lists specialist legal technology businesses that provide solutions to business challenges, so legal services can be delivered more efficiently and at a lower cost. The index aims to improve access to legal technology products […]

]]>This week LawFest NZ launched the country’s first index of legal technology businesses for legal professionals. The NZ Legal Technology Index lists specialist legal technology businesses that provide solutions to business challenges, so legal services can be delivered more efficiently and at a lower cost.

The index aims to improve access to legal technology products and services by listing businesses on its website including information on what the business does, key contact people and links to help you find out more about the provider.

Andrew King, founder of E-Discovery Consulting and LawFest NZ, says the index is where legal professionals can begin to search for potential providers to help them address business needs.

“A lot of legal professionals, both in-house counsel team and firms have challenges in how they can deliver their services faster, more accurately and for a lower price, but aren’t sure what solution they’re looking for, or where to even look. The LawFest NZ Legal Technology Index is the place to start and doesn’t result in spending needless hours searching the web”

Those on the index are specialists in the legal industry, providing technology or services specifically to address the challenges legal professionals face.

As it’s just been launched, the index is not yet a comprehensive listing, however it already offers a valuable selection of businesses who provide solutions into the legal industry, and is continuing to grow daily.

Technology businesses that provide products or services to the legal sector are able to list their business on the Legal Technology Index for as a premium or standard listing.

]]>https://www.lawfest.nz/legal-technology-index-first-of-its-kind-in-new-zealand/feed/0Successful Legal Innovation and Technology Event Reveals Appetite for Changehttps://www.lawfest.nz/successful-legal-innovation-and-technology-event-reveals-appetite-for-change/
https://www.lawfest.nz/successful-legal-innovation-and-technology-event-reveals-appetite-for-change/#respondWed, 14 Mar 2018 20:15:06 +0000https://www.lawfest.nz/?p=3503Described by attendees as the “must do legal conference of the year”, LawFest, New Zealand’s premier legal innovation and technology event, attracted over 250 legal professionals from across the country, revealing a heightened appetite for change in how legal services are delivered. LawFest Event Founder and Strategic Adviser of E-Discovery Consulting Andrew King said the […]

]]>Described by attendees as the “must do legal conference of the year”, LawFest, New Zealand’s premier legal innovation and technology event, attracted over 250 legal professionals from across the country, revealing a heightened appetite for change in how legal services are delivered.

LawFest Event Founder and Strategic Adviser of E-Discovery Consulting Andrew King said the number of attendees this year was the highest ever at the event demonstrating there’s a heightened awareness in the legal sector of staying relevant and keeping up with change.

“Lawyers within firms, in-house counsel, legal support, and managers across the sector want to know how to innovate and use technology effectively, so they can deliver services more efficiently, for lower fees, and to better meet the needs of their clients. This year there was far larger appetite for the conversation than ever before.

“In particular, it was great to see so many in-house lawyers attending the event. They are under pressure to find more efficient ways to deliver more for less in their organisation and LawFest 2018 provided a platform for them to explore options to achieve that,” said King.

Keynote speaker Sir Ray Avery, described by attendees as an “inspiring and motivational start to the day”, lead the line-up of over 20 speakers including Mai Chen, Craig Columbus, David Harvey, Caroline Ferguson, Claudia King and many more.

Held in Auckland, the conference connected delegates with New Zealand’s leading legal technology thinkers and industry providers and covered subjects in a legal context including cyber-security, blockchain, AI, tech and law-firm partnerships, innovating as an in-house lawyer, the business of law during changing times, and looking at disruption as ‘normal’.

Senior Associate, Parry Field Lawyers, Steven Moe, also a panellist from one of the four working sessions available at LawFest, enjoyed the diversity of learnings from the day.

“LawFest is a great way to meet other people who are pushing the boundaries of what is possible and be challenged as to what the future will bring,” Mr Moe said about the event.

This year the event attracted the greatest number of providers of legal technology, many of which are new players in this quickly evolving industry. LawFest 2018 also created its first ‘innovation zone’ showcasing many new tech businesses just starting out. Delegates had the opportunity to interact with providers into the legal industry throughout the day, as well as network with those from other firms.

King, who has run the successful event for 6 years, was pleased to see delegates, exhibitors and speakers alike, all have something to take away from the one-day event.

“There were so many opportunities for learning through the speakers, the working sessions and the legal sector technology providers. It was great to see so much energy in the room, and so many conversations and questions being exchanged between those in the know, and those that want to know,” said Mr King.

Following the success of this year’s event, LawFest 2019 is set to attract even more legal professionals with an interest in innovation and technology. It will again be held in Auckland, on 21 March 2019, with a limited time 2 for 1 ticket offer for delegates.

The LawFest membership is also an initiative carried on from last year. With a new low entry fee of $99, the membership enables greater access to anyone in New Zealand interested in learning more about innovation and leveraging technology to help deliver legal services. Membership provides exclusive access to the 2018 presentation slides, videos and other regular content.

]]>https://www.lawfest.nz/successful-legal-innovation-and-technology-event-reveals-appetite-for-change/feed/0How to get the most out of LawFesthttps://www.lawfest.nz/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-lawfest/
https://www.lawfest.nz/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-lawfest/#respondMon, 05 Mar 2018 03:50:00 +0000https://www.lawfest.nz/?p=3435LawFest is the one event of the year legal professionals should attend to discover how technology and innovation can impact them, their firms and their clients. We have made some exciting changes tailored to the needs of lawyers, support staff and management from within law firms, corporate organisations and government agencies. We have new working sessions, […]

]]>LawFest is the one event of the year legal professionals should attend to discover how technology and innovation can impact them, their firms and their clients.

We have made some exciting changes tailored to the needs of lawyers, support staff and management from within law firms, corporate organisations and government agencies. We have new working sessions, an expanded exhibition hall, including a new premium zone, and

We’re just a few days away now and we want to make sure you get the most of the day, so here are 5 things to do before or on the day of LawFest 2018:

Download the event app

We have an event app again this year. You’ll be able to check out the delegates and speakers, set your session schedule for the day, have your say in the event feed, and get involved in the exhibitor passport competition.

LawFest has something for everyone. From those new to technology, to those currently at the forefront of legal innovation, and everyone in-between.

It’s important to have a plan of what you want to get out of the event. Check out the speakers and their sessions so you know which ones are important to you. Prepare any questions you may want to ask, or make a list of what you want to learn.

Make sure you arrive early. Registrations open at 8am, which is the same time the exhibition hall opens. This provides a good opportunity to meet some of the exhibitors prior to the start of the formal proceedings at 8.45.

Bring a colleague

Attending events alone can be daunting, so bring a colleague using one of our great add-on ticket options. Under 30 Pass, which allows those under 30 to attend LawFest for just $199. You can Register Now.

Meet the exhibitors

Take the opportunity to meet with our exhibitors in our expanded exhibition hall, which includes a new Premium Zone, a more spacious and comfortable design for delegates to connect with providers to see and hear about their leading solutions.

Make sure you visit the Innovation Zone – also new to LawFest for 2018. The Innovation Zone is an area for you to find the latest start-ups in the legaltech sector. LawFest is the only event in New Zealand that provides this unique opportunity to see the products and services of leading technology providers.

Use the App and our website to find out more about our exhibitors.

Take full advantage of our ‘Meet the Exhibitors’ session, prior to the morning tea break. Premium exhibitors have 60 seconds to explain who they are, what they do and where they are for you to visit them. This is a great opportunity to identify who is most applicable to you, so you can make a point of speaking to those exhibitors at some point during the day.

Interact and engage

Are you on Twitter or LinkedIn? We’re discussing legal tech and the event on our Twitter and LinkedIn page. You can also look for and use hashtags #LawFestNZ and #LawFest2018 to get involved.

The event much more than just the great educational content. There are many opportunities to network through the day and to enjoy our hospitality at one of New Zealand’s most prestigious venues. Make sure you stay around for the networking drinks at the end of the day. This has always been a relaxed and enjoyable way to unwind and discuss the various happenings of the day.

Hopefully these tips will help you get even greater value from attending LawFest.

]]>https://www.lawfest.nz/how-to-get-the-most-out-of-lawfest/feed/0Legal professionals to learn about the future of their profession at New Zealand’s legal innovation and technology eventhttps://www.lawfest.nz/legal-professionals-to-learn-about-the-future-of-their-profession-at-new-zealands-legal-innovation-and-technology-event/
https://www.lawfest.nz/legal-professionals-to-learn-about-the-future-of-their-profession-at-new-zealands-legal-innovation-and-technology-event/#respondThu, 22 Feb 2018 20:37:14 +0000https://www.lawfest.nz/?p=3358On 8 March, over 250 legal professionals and industry providers will be joining some of New Zealand’s leading legal technology thinkers at LawFest 2018, New Zealand’s premier legal innovation and technology event, in Auckland. The programme has been handcrafted by a sector-wide working group, pulling ideas from leading lawyers, practice managers, in-house counsel, in-firm technology […]

]]>On 8 March, over 250 legal professionals and industry providers will be joining some of New Zealand’s leading legal technology thinkers at LawFest 2018, New Zealand’s premier legal innovation and technology event, in Auckland.

The programme has been handcrafted by a sector-wide working group, pulling ideas from leading lawyers, practice managers, in-house counsel, in-firm technology leads, as well as industry providers.

The schedule includes keynotes and working groups on the topic of ‘law meets technology’ and its relevance to the day-to-day practice. This subject is becoming more critical as the legal profession is experiencing considerable change in how legal services are delivered.

Keynote speaker Sir Ray Avery leads the line-up of over 20 speakers including Mai Chen, Craig Columbus, David Harvey, Caroline Ferguson, Claudia King and many more. Andrew King of E-Discovery Consulting, runs the successful event, and looks forward to what the speakers have to offer.

“This year, delegates will not only learn of new technology and processes but hear of experiences as well as advice from these leading experts,” said Mr King.

LawFest is designed for all legal professionals with an interest in innovation and technology – including lawyers, in-house counsel, CEOs, practice managers, CIOs, IT professionals and government agencies. Organisations previously may have sent one representative, but LawFest provides considerable value for lawyers, support staff and management – from within law firms, corporate organisations, or government bodies.

The one-day conference has something for everyone: from those new to technology, to those currently at the forefront of legal innovation. LawFest is the one event legal professionals should attend every year, providing an opportunity for anyone involved in the intersection of technology and the law to develop their knowledge and immerse themselves in the latest topics and trends in this fast-changing area.

LawFest continues to be the only event in New Zealand with the opportunity to meet and see the products of leading legal technology providers. A new ‘innovation zone’ has been introduced for tech start-ups to showcase their exciting products, joining over 30 tech providers involved and exhibiting at the event.

LawFest builds on the success of the past five annual conferences, with the 2017 event attracting over 200 participants. The event continues to be expanded to appeal to a wider audience of legal professionals with an interest in innovating the delivery of their legal services through technology.

]]>https://www.lawfest.nz/legal-professionals-to-learn-about-the-future-of-their-profession-at-new-zealands-legal-innovation-and-technology-event/feed/0Innovation Series – Laura O’Gormanhttps://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-laura-ogorman/
https://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-laura-ogorman/#respondSun, 04 Feb 2018 18:55:49 +0000https://www.lawfest.nz/?p=2975LawFest organiser Andrew King continues his series of interviews with key legal professionals with their innovation and technology stories. An interview with Laura O’Gorman, Partner at Buddle Findlay. What has been your experience or interaction with legal innovation and technology? Coming from a family of computer experts, I have always been interested in […]

]]>LawFest organiser Andrew King continues his series of interviews with key legal professionals with their innovation and technology stories.

An interview with Laura O’Gorman, Partner at Buddle Findlay.

What has been your experience or interaction with legal innovation and technology?

Coming from a family of computer experts, I have always been interested in technology. I am lucky to work in a large firm with the resources to innovate. This has enabled me to be an early adopter of tools that help my practice as a litigator, such as litigation support software, voice recognition and e-bundles for court. Meanwhile our general IT systems have also evolved dramatically over the last 10 years, to include a wealth of applications that make our jobs easier (eg document management, time recording, billing, CRM etc).

What changes have you seen in your firm, team or organisation recently?

The rate of change is ever-increasing on a number of fronts. In addition to technology changing the way law is practised, client expectations and the way we prefer to work are also evolving. We are moving along the continuum towards a paperless workplace, reducing the need for floor space and improving communication flows within workgroups. There is an increasing demand for flexibility, which has both positives and negatives. From the client perspective, this can require after hours availability on urgent or important matters – portable devices and remote access greatly assist in delivering that level of service. On the other hand, we are more conscious than ever of the need to nurture wellbeing and other aspects of our lives and support systems outside of work. We are noticing a trend towards more project-based provision of services, requiring more innovative and collaborative problem-solving and pricing structures, often multi-disciplinary. There is a greater focus on delivering our primary value-add at the expert level, and minimising the costs of low level and routine work (eg through automation and AI, outsourcing, or those aspects being managed in-house). This is good for our junior lawyers because the quality of their work is better, but we are conscious that it might it reduce the overall volume of entry level work for law graduates. Overarching all of this, cybersecurity is now a major issue for any law firm.

What challenges or barriers do you face when innovating or looking to use new tech?

This depends on the particular innovation that is proposed, but the main recurring issues are cross-expertise communication/understanding, change resistance, costs and learning curves, integration and security. In the past, the different functions within law firms were more independent. Lawyers could focus on providing legal advice, and the IT experts could set up our computers and digital voice recorders, without particularly requiring any understanding what the other was trying to achieve. Now the objectives are much more integrated (eg designing and using software to achieve a particular legal task), posing the challenge of finding people with multi-disciplinary expertise, or working collaboratively and communicating more effectively across those disciplines. To do this successfully, people need to be open to change, listen effectively and adopt a problem-solving attitude rather than simply sticking with the status quo as a matter of convenience or change-resistance. There are some great technological solutions out there, or that could be potentially developed, but this often requires risk and significant upfront investment (including overcoming a learning curve). Lawyers are generally risk-averse and time poor, so overcoming this type of barrier is difficult. To be done successfully, lawyers need to understand the reasons for the change and the benefits they will receive. Before introducing new technology, it is also critical to consider and test the knock-on implications in terms of how it will integrate with other existing systems (both internally and externally), and what security issues arise.

What opportunities do you see with legal innovation?

The purpose of innovation for any service provider is to deliver better value for clients and exceed their expectations. Value can be achieved in a number of ways – higher quality, lower cost, faster delivery, proactively understanding the client’s business better, anticipating issues, collaborating more effectively, reducing risk and adding value. Technology provides us with one way to achieve these objectives. We have seen many examples already, such as software that better deals with the vast volumes of electronic material (in contexts such as litigation or due diligences), cloud-based platforms that facilitate project and client collaboration, commoditising basic documents and automation of mundane or repetitive takes. These trends will continue, allowing us to focus on the areas in which we truly add value with our legal experience and expertise.

With greater adoption of tech and more innovation, how do you see your role evolving in the future?

While the core service we provide is still legal advice, there is a much greater responsibility to ensure that we understand the bigger picture, and integrate our services both efficiently and effectively with others, including the clients themselves, technology experts and other service providers. Leaders within the firms need to prepare their teams to be problem-solvers in a rapidly evolving profession. This requires nurturing the skills of open-mindedness and adaptability, recognising that we need to keep learning and innovating throughout our careers. This will require technology skills too, not just legal training.

LawFest is focused on innovation and tech in the legal profession, why do you think it’s important for legal professionals to attend an event like LawFest?

LawFest is unique because it’s suitable for the different types of people that need to be on top of these issues within the legal profession – not just lawyers, but management and IT as well. It’s a very effective way for attendees to see the bigger picture from all perspectives, and get insight into what is best practice now and into the future, depending on where your firm sits on the investment and innovation curve.

If you want to learn more about innovative practices, drive greater efficiency within your organisation and ultimately drive profitability, then LawFest is the event for you. LawFest is being held at the Langham hotel in Auckland on 8 March 2018. Find out more – https://www.lawfest.nz/

]]>https://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-laura-ogorman/feed/0Innovation Series – Terri Brayhttps://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-terri-bray/
https://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-terri-bray/#respondMon, 29 Jan 2018 19:00:00 +0000https://www.lawfest.nz/?p=3059The following is a part of a series of interviews with legal professionals and their experiences and interaction with innovation and technology in the legal sector. We hope you’ll get value from what others have learnt along the way and their recommendations. An interview with Terri Bray, Practice Manager at Wynyard Wood What has been […]

]]>The following is a part of a series of interviews with legal professionals and their experiences and interaction with innovation and technology in the legal sector. We hope you’ll get value from what others have learnt along the way and their recommendations.

An interview with Terri Bray, Practice Manager at Wynyard Wood

What has been your experience or interaction with legal innovation and technology?

The partners of WW decided to go “paper-less” back in April 2015 i.e. move to digital files. The decision was unanimous. As part of the paperless move all authors have been provided with Surface Pro’s so they can take notes in meetings (directly on to the Surface Pro), the ability to Skype and to be able to access information wherever they are working. I would be lying if I said that this has not been challenging, but the positives have far outweighed the negatives.

What changes have you seen in your firm, team or organisation recently?

With at least 50% of our staff working in some sort of flexible arrangement, going to digital files has been invaluable. Authors have the ability to easily work from home, access information from Court and generally operate anywhere out of the office, including at clients’ homes and premises.

What challenges or barriers do you face when innovating or looking to use new tech?

The challenges are many and varied ranging from staff resistance to change, time constraints, taking busy lawyers away from their work to bringing them up to speed with the new product, making sure everyone gets the most out of the new technology and establishing which technology products are relevant from the overwhelming array available on the market.

What opportunities do you see with legal innovation?

Better meeting client needs. This is our firm mantra. The expectation on the part of the clients that we deliver them solutions quickly and in a format that works for them (not a one size fits all) will increase. The “Google everything” phenomenon means our delivery will need to be more interactive – e.g. online form filling, access to commonly sort resources, online chat, more meetings via video etc.

More opportunity to take advantage of staff being able to work flexibly.

Savings in funding expensive infrastructure.

Better client interaction.

With greater adoption of tech and more innovation, how do you see your role evolving in the future?

The role is becoming more procurement based, requiring a lot more time researching products, carrying out due diligence, implementation and change management.

LawFest is focused on innovation and tech in the legal profession, why do you think it’s important for legal professionals to attend an event like LawFest?

Helping to keep firms abreast of what is going on in the market and bring it all together in one place.

As a firm that wants to be at the leading edge (though probably not the leader) you get to see how things are developing and how they are being used by others.

]]>https://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-terri-bray/feed/0Innovation Series – Matt Farringtonhttps://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-matt-farrington/
https://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-matt-farrington/#respondTue, 23 Jan 2018 19:00:48 +0000https://www.lawfest.nz/?p=2704The following is a part of a series of interviews with legal professionals and their experiences and interaction with innovation and technology in the legal sector. We hope you’ll get value from what others have learnt along the way and their recommendations. What has been your experience or interaction with legal innovation and technology? As […]

]]>The following is a part of a series of interviews with legal professionals and their experiences and interaction with innovation and technology in the legal sector. We hope you’ll get value from what others have learnt along the way and their recommendations.

What has been your experience or interaction with legal innovation and technology?

As a whole, I think the legal profession has been slow to adopt technology innovations. Part of my role is working with other lawyers on their legal technology needs. Many of our clients seem to have the impression that everyone else seems to have this technology stuff sorted, and it is just them that are struggling with information or practice management. But very few firms or in-house legal teams have really cracked the full potential of legal technology. I’ve also seen many lawyers underestimate the value of general business technologies too – very few legal practices use a CRM to its full potential, for example.

But it’s an incredibly dynamic space. I’ve certainly seen some lawyers doing some really innovative and amazing things with technology. And the huge number of legal start-ups alone shows shows that there is real demand among lawyers for better ways of working.

What changes have you seen in your firm, team or organisation recently?

I work a lot with in-house teams. The size and significance of in-house teams has been quietly growing over the last forty years or so, but the legal technology market has been slow to catch up. I’ve talked to technology vendors who have seemed to assume that an in-house legal team is just like a little law firm that doesn’t issue bills. But really the differences between in-house teams and law firms range from the subtle to the significant. I’ve therefore been really pleased to see that the market is starting to catch up with these developments. It’s great to see some vendors are offering excellent technology solutions that are squarely targeted at the needs of in-house lawyers.

What challenges or barriers do you face when innovating or looking to use new tech?

One of the greatest barriers I see for lawyers thinking about adopting new technologies is just deciding where to start. Lawyers grappling with decision paralysis should identify one or two issues where technology could have a positive impact. Modern software-as-a-service solutions can be deployed quickly, cheaply, and easily. If you try a solution and it doesn’t work, don’t be afraid to discard it and move to the next one. If you don’t have the time or expertise to try it yourself, find the most technology-enthusiastic person in your firm or team, give them a modest budget, and let them get to work.

What opportunities do you see with legal innovation?

Short of a singularity event occurring, I don’t see AI as replacing lawyers any time soon. I prefer to focus on IA (“intelligent assistance” – and I will freely admit this is a backronym). Intelligent assistance technology will massively leverage the power of lawyers to get more done, in less time, with increased effectiveness, and perhaps even more enjoyably. The bionic lawyers of the near future will spend much less time hunting for precedents or manually reviewing thousands of pages in a discovery or due diligence exercise; instead they will be free to focus their efforts on providing the best possible legal services to their clients.

But lawyers will still be involved. Calculators didn’t replace mathematicians. Instead they provided a massive opportunity for better ways of working. The best mathematicians nowadays aren’t those that can laboriously grind through calculations by hand; the best mathematicians are those that can best conceptualise problems in to its core elements, then pose (or program) the key questions in such a way that their machine assistants are able to answer it most effectively. The future for lawyers is similar, and I think it’s an incredible opportunity to make the practice of law far more satisfying.

With greater adoption of tech and more innovation, how do you see your role evolving in the future?

We’re basically living in the future right now! In an age where my fridge and washing machine have wifi and I can control the colour of my light bulbs from my phone, pretty much every legal project of any size will have some kind of technology component to consider. I’ve already talked about how we’re all going to become bionic lawyers. But I think that the very best lawyers will have a deep understanding of both the legal and technology issues and how they interact. For many problems, there might be both legal and technical solutions. For example, I worked on a digital privacy issue recently. The natural instinct was to include some additional disclaimers in a privacy statement. But the much better solution we arrived at was using a technology solution (hashing) to preserve the uniqueness of the data while ensuring that it was fully anonymised. Knowing what legal and technical solutions are available, and the best one to use for a given problem, will be a key role of the lawyers of the very near future.

LawFest is focused on innovation and tech in the legal profession, why do you think it’s important for legal professionals to attend an event like LawFest?

To me, the best part of Law Fest is talking with others that share an interest in the technology space, to find out what they’re doing and sharing ideas. I particularly like talking to tech vendors. Again, it’s an incredibly dynamic space at the moment and I’ve found the tech vendors at Law Fest to be really open to hearing suggestions about how you’d like to work or use their products, often in ways they hadn’t envisaged themselves!

]]>https://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-matt-farrington/feed/0Innovation Series – Craig Columbushttps://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-craig-columbus/
https://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-craig-columbus/#respondTue, 16 Jan 2018 19:00:56 +0000https://www.lawfest.nz/?p=2652The following is a part of a series of interviews with legal professionals and their experiences and interaction with innovation and technology in the legal sector. We hope you’ll get value from what others have learnt along the way and their recommendations. An interview with Craig Columbus, Chief Information Officer, Russell McVeagh What has been […]

]]>The following is a part of a series of interviews with legal professionals and their experiences and interaction with innovation and technology in the legal sector. We hope you’ll get value from what others have learnt along the way and their recommendations.

What has been your experience or interaction with legal innovation and technology?

As CIO at Russell McVeagh, it is one of my responsibilities to ensure we invest in technologies that allow us to better serve our clients.

What changes have you seen in your firm, team or organisation recently?

Within the last year, we’ve updated or replaced nearly all of our technology (laptops, servers, networks, applications… the whole stack) with leading edge offerings; the modernization of our technical capability is continual. We have a standing Innovation Committee and our mandate is to ensure we’re regularly looking at emerging technologies that allow us to better serve our clients.

What challenges or barriers do you face when innovating or looking to use new tech?

There are a few challenges. Many new technology offerings fail to live up to the hype, so we must thoroughly test offerings before deployment. Being in New Zealand, it can be hard to gain access to bleeding edge tech, as many start-ups want to focus on major markets first and don’t have either the desire or infrastructure to support a geographically remote client. Integrating new technology with legacy technology can be challenging and often requires a redesign of work processes. Finally, it’s imperative to bring people along the journey. We must ensure that the pace of change is reasonable and that people are able to adapt to new ways of working.

What opportunities do you see with legal innovation?

The technology available today is amazing and is improving daily. I can foresee a time in the not so distant future when legal professionals spend little time doing tedious work, like document review, and spend most of their time working with clients to create great outcomes.

With greater adoption of tech and more innovation, how do you see your role evolving in the future?

My role will continue to evolve, with a special emphasis on creating greater business value through the selection and application of emerging technologies.

LawFest is focused on innovation and tech in the legal profession, why do you think it’s important for legal professionals to attend an event like LawFest?

LawFest pulls together a fantastic blend of expert technologists and top legal professionals, all with a focus on building the future of law. LawFest attendees network, share knowledge and learn from one another in ways that would be hard to replicate outside of the event. If you’re serious about the future of your legal practice, you attend LawFest.

]]>https://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-craig-columbus/feed/0Innovation Series – Pauline Glancyhttps://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-pauline-glancy/
https://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-pauline-glancy/#respondTue, 19 Dec 2017 19:30:17 +0000https://www.lawfest.nz/?p=2660The following is a part of a series of interviews with legal professionals and their experiences and interaction with innovation and technology in the legal sector. We hope you’ll get value from what others have learnt along the way and their recommendations. An interview with Pauline Glancy, Practice Manager, Haigh Lyon Lawyers What has been your […]

]]>The following is a part of a series of interviews with legal professionals and their experiences and interaction with innovation and technology in the legal sector. We hope you’ll get value from what others have learnt along the way and their recommendations.

What has been your experience or interaction with legal innovation and technology?

I feel that I have had a positive interaction with both. People are now not afraid to question why we do something in a certain way. Instead, people like me are asking, how can we do this more effectively and efficiently and what are the technology tools that are available that might help us along the way.

What changes have you seen in your firm, team or organisation recently?

My firm is not afraid of change and are embracing it. It is also not left to the management team to implement new ways of working but rather it is open to everyone in the firm to contribute ideas and solutions. The words paper less isn’t a scary concept anymore. A clean and paper free desk can be seen around the office. With the use of dictation technology such as Bighand lawyers are becoming more and more armed with the tools needed to work smarter. This also allows our secretaries to be more than typists. Instead they are more involved in the file and thinking one step ahead of what might be needed from them next.

What challenges or barriers do you face when innovating or looking to use new tech?

Most new technology is great but what happens if it doesn’t interact with your current software? I find this the biggest challenge. E.g. This new trust admin system can do everything from A-Z but it won’t integrate with Infinity our current practice management system. Or this new cloud phone set up is top of the line but it won’t work with our current computer system.

What opportunities do you see with legal innovation?

A move away from time billing and to value based services for clients. Using technology to improve productivity of legal authors by flexible ways of working. Lawyers can now access their files from anywhere and don’t have to be next to them at their office cubicle.

With greater adoption of tech and more innovation, how do you see your role evolving in the future?

Instead of just managing people to deliver the outcome it has evolved into utilising the combination of people, technology and innovative ideas to deliver better outcomes for or clients.

LawFest is focused on innovation and tech in the legal profession, why do you think it’s important for legal professionals to attend an event like LawFest?

Aren’t we all looking to achieve the same thing? This is a great opportunity to get in a room with like-minded people who are looking to make a positive change or people who have already trialed it who are willing to share their thoughts.

]]>https://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-pauline-glancy/feed/0Innovation Series – Susan Bennetthttps://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-susan-bennett/
https://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-susan-bennett/#respondMon, 11 Dec 2017 19:05:16 +0000https://www.lawfest.nz/?p=2666The following is a part of a series of interviews with legal professionals and their experiences and interaction with innovation and technology in the legal sector. We hope you’ll get value from what others have learnt along the way and their recommendations. An interview with Susan Bennett, Principal Sibenco Legal & Advisory, Co-founder and Director Information […]

]]>The following is a part of a series of interviews with legal professionals and their experiences and interaction with innovation and technology in the legal sector. We hope you’ll get value from what others have learnt along the way and their recommendations.

What has been your experience or interaction with legal innovation and technology?

When I commenced as a lawyer there was only the traditional paper ‘discovery’ and the technology to enable ‘eDiscovery’ had not yet been developed. I was a user of the initial versions of several eDiscovery technology tools and established a legal technology support team to support litigation matters and due diligence in M&As. I was also involved in one of the earliest commercial litigation trials in London that used live transcript – that was back in 1995. I was involved in the first electronic trial in a major commercial litigation case in the New South Wales Supreme Court, which was back in 2000-2001. As is often the case with technology, it takes time and improvements both to the technology and with the skills of the users before the full extent of the benefits are realised. The first electronic trial was also accompanied by multiple sets of an initial 165 folder trial bundle set, and almost everyone insisted on hard copy print outs of the transcript each day over the course of a 12 month hearing.

Further development of litigation legal technology in recent years has continued. In particular, the development of AI capabilities in eDiscovery software has been impressive. Technology Assisted Review (TAR) operating in conjunction with eDiscovery software, enables vast amounts of information across an organisation to be searched, identified and collated, and then utilising the sampling, training and prediction functions of TAR can result in significantly reduced number of paralegals and review lawyers.

The courts have also been active in deploying technology, from the use of electronic trials on a regular basis (with little or no paper), to the ability of court users to file documents on line, which is a huge time saver and reduces costs.

What changes have you seen in your firm, team or organisation recently?

I’m now a lawyer who is a NewLaw provider and technology is key to enabling practitioners like myself who choose to practise law outside the traditional large law firm model. Soon after Microsoft built its cloud in Sydney, I moved to a fully electronic legal practice and now use a number of software programs to carry out my work. Technology is also the enabler to allow consultants and contractors who work with my firm to work remotely. The upside of email, mobile phone and web conferencing is that it enables lawyers to respond and communicate with clients with ease, even when they are not in their law firm office. Whether I am travelling overseas and/or working remotely, I find it is a non-issue for clients – the key issues are that you are accessible and available to do the work and then deliver.

What challenges or barriers do you face when innovating or looking to use new tech?

I think a key challenge is properly understanding both the scope and the limits of new technology. I often ask for an explanation as to how a product being demonstrated differs from its competition to understand what the product does differently. The gap between what lawyers do and think they need and what the technology does, needs to be understood in order to get the best solution. Increasingly it is likely to be the lawyer who will need to change the way do their work and/or how they deliver their services. However, sometimes it is less about which software you are using and more about having the right skill set using it.

What opportunities do you see with legal innovation?

I see great opportunities for those in the legal profession who innovate and are able to compete in a legal environment that will be completely disrupted by technology. The technology revolution is in its early stages and we will really begin to see some of the profound changes that technology will bring to the legal industry as technology becomes embedded and/or replaces traditional areas of practise. eDiscovery technology tools and Legal Process Outsourcing (LPOs) have now reduced the size of law firm paralegal and lawyer teams on document review. Other examples include the increasing use of AI software in contracts and blockchain, which will have a profound impact on contract and commercial legal areas.

Technology disruption to law presents innovation opportunities for lawyers who can see and seize the opportunities. For students and young lawyers, combining technology and legal skills will open up new frontiers – such as the development of legal apps or legal Chat bots. Students who combined technology and law qualifications are likely to have more employment opportunities and faster career progression given there will be an increasing demand for the combined legal and technology skills.

With greater adoption of tech and more innovation, how do you see your role evolving in the future?

For current and including older lawyers, we all need to be continually learning, seizing opportunities and innovating. Experienced lawyers can combine their skills and expertise with new learnings to deliver new services. For example, my background in large scale document production in litigation and Royal Commissions and my involvement with the development of eDiscovery led me to write and speak on the importance of good document and information management and defensible disposition of records to reduce discovery and litigation costs. I now deliver services in Information Governance, including frameworks, policies and processes to manage the exponential growth in data within organisations from a strategic organisational perspective. This work also includes – privacy frameworks, privacy impact assessments, data impact assessments for data analytics projects including an ethical based assessment as part of the overall assessment framework. The legal work in data protection and privacy is a rapidly growing area of law, which exists because of the technology developments.

LawFest is focused on innovation and tech in the legal profession, why do you think it’s important for legal professionals to attend an event like LawFest?

Everyone attending LawFest will learn something new from a diverse range of leading innovators and leaders in law and legal technology. It’s a great to hear the speakers explain current trends and latest developments with their insights and practical experience.

]]>https://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-susan-bennett/feed/0Who should attend LawFest?https://www.lawfest.nz/who-should-attend-lawfest/
https://www.lawfest.nz/who-should-attend-lawfest/#respondMon, 04 Dec 2017 18:00:27 +0000https://www.lawfest.nz/?p=2965We often highlight why you should attend LawFest, however it is also important to identify exactly who should attend. The simple answer is if you want to learn more about innovative practices, drive greater efficiency within your organisation and ultimately drive profitability, then LawFest is the event for you. LawFest is not just for lawyers, […]

The simple answer is if you want to learn more about innovative practices, drive greater efficiency within your organisation and ultimately drive profitability, then LawFest is the event for you.

LawFest is not just for lawyers, as it is designed for all legal professionals with an interest in innovation and technology – including lawyers, in-house counsel, CEOs, practice managers, CIOs, IT professionals and everyone in between.

Organisations previously may have sent one representative, but LawFest provides considerable value for lawyers, support staff and management – from within law firms, corporate organisations, or government bodies.

The one-day conference has something for everyone: from those new to technology, to those currently at the forefront of legal innovation. LawFest is the one event legal professionals should attend every year, providing an opportunity for anyone involved in the intersection of technology and the law to develop their knowledge and immerse themselves in the latest topics and trends in this fast-changing area.

Thought provoking programme

The programme is packed full of practical advice, eye-opening presentations, and success stories from your peers.

]]>https://www.lawfest.nz/who-should-attend-lawfest/feed/0Innovation Series – Claudia Kinghttps://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-claudia-king/
https://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-claudia-king/#respondSun, 03 Dec 2017 19:30:21 +0000https://www.lawfest.nz/?p=2697The following is a part of a series of interviews with legal professionals and their experiences and interaction with innovation and technology in the legal sector. We hope you’ll get value from what others have learnt along the way and their recommendations. What has been your experience or interaction with legal innovation and technology? Legal […]

]]>The following is a part of a series of interviews with legal professionals and their experiences and interaction with innovation and technology in the legal sector. We hope you’ll get value from what others have learnt along the way and their recommendations.

What has been your experience or interaction with legal innovation and technology?

Legal innovation and technology have given me life over the last 6 years or so. By nature I’m a curious person and like to try new things, and I have been incredibly lucky to have been in a work environment where I could try all the things. This led us to launching Legal Beagle in 2012 which was a nationwide online legal service, and this put us on the journey to create our own automation software which is now our full time business Automio. I’m also a big fan of digital marketing which is what I used to create and build a client base at Legal Beagle, and love the trial and error that goes with this type of marketing as well as the ability to accurately measure results.

What changes have you seen in your firm, team or organisation recently?

Oh man, where do I start. We’ve undergone some huge changes as I sold my law firm Dennis King Law in July so that my team and I could focus 100% on Automio. So we went from being a law firm with a tech project on the side, to a standalone SaaS startup navigating #startuplyf which has no end of ups and downs and hilarious moments.

What challenges or barriers do you face when innovating or looking to use new tech?

When I was a lawyer my biggest challenge was knowing exactly what I wanted in terms of software, but not being able to find it. I also found so much of the legal software available is so shit and clunky and you had to install in on your machine and the support from these software companies is terrible, and legal tech is so bloody expensive. What’s up with that?

What opportunities do you see with legal innovation?

The biggest opportunity I can see right now is to look for ways to share legal innovation with clients. Currently many lawyers want to be innovative to benefit themselves and make their firms more efficient and profitable, but are not looking for ways to share these benefits with clients yet (for example, by committing to faster turnaround times, different pricing options, convenient online service etc). Ensuring that clients get to share in the benefits from innovation will become the norm, and those lawyers that concentrate on this now will go well into the future.

With greater adoption of tech and more innovation, how do you see your role evolving in the future?

My role has evolved so much already, and will continue to do so. In my current role my mission is to help lawyers defend their careers in the age of automation and AI. As more lawyers take up our technology we want to quickly expand into other countries, as well as other industries. Automio can be used by any person or business that has a repetitive process they want to automate and then use that automation to generate revenue and allow customers to serve themselves online, so we see opportunities for our business in many other industries including education, engineering and healthcare. My role as CEO is to drive this growth.

LawFest is focused on innovation and tech in the legal profession, why do you think it’s important for legal professionals to attend an event like LawFest?

It’s not just important for legal professionals to attend an event like LawFest, it is a “must do” for any lawyer serious about future-proofing their career. Unless lawyers keep their knowledge up to date with the latest opportunities and technologies for the legal industry and keep their skills in terms of using technology up to date, then they are risking the future of their legal careers. Events like LawFest are a great way to absorb a bunch of new ideas, skills and knowledge in one quick hit.

]]>https://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-claudia-king/feed/0Innovation Series – Gene Turnerhttps://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-gene-turner/
https://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-gene-turner/#respondSun, 26 Nov 2017 19:30:02 +0000https://www.lawfest.nz/?p=2701The following is a part of a series of interviews with legal professionals and their experiences and interaction with innovation and technology in the legal sector. We hope you’ll get value from what others have learnt along the way and their recommendations. What has been your experience or interaction with legal innovation and technology? I’ve […]

]]>The following is a part of a series of interviews with legal professionals and their experiences and interaction with innovation and technology in the legal sector. We hope you’ll get value from what others have learnt along the way and their recommendations.

What has been your experience or interaction with legal innovation and technology?

I’ve always been interested in using technology to help me work better, but coming up through law firms and an in-house team, I had very limited opportunities to try new systems out. Mostly I dabbled in work-arounds as best I could, while trying to do all the usual parts of my job too. Even then I was able to find ways to work better, which reinforced that you don’t need a lot of technology to innovate.

Since setting up LawHawk, I’ve been immersed in the legal tech space. Document automation sits nicely in the middle of so many other processes, that I see a lot of opportunities and talk to a lot of people about other legal technologies, what they do, and how they can fit together as part of overall solutions. I’ve really enjoyed that part of things as it is the overall solution that matters, not the individual components.

What changes have you seen in your firm, team or organisation recently?

We are still a relatively new company, moving quickly in a rapidly developing market, so there are always a lot of things changing.

When we launched in June 2016, very few people we spoke to had any idea that document automation existed as a concept. It felt like we were building a new market, one conversation at a time. We are seeing more awareness and interest in the idea, though knowledge of how to use it for advantage is still low, so that is a focus for us.

Our preference remains to work with law firms, but we haven’t been waiting for them to figure things out, and have been working more directly with in-house legal and procurement teams, and testing offers direct to consumers. After throwing the net out broadly looking for early adopters, we’ve been narrowing our focus and looking for customers we can do a lot more with to help them make substantial gains.

What challenges or barriers do you face when innovating or looking to use new tech?

The same as any lawyer really: limited technical knowledge; limited budget and limited time.

I’m a lawyer that likes to use new technology when I think it can help me be more effective. I don’t always understand all the details about how it works. I have to take time to talk to people who do understand those things, and who I can work with to figure things out. Usually they have no idea how lawyers work, so it’s a sharing of ideas that is required. We have the best technology partners we could find.

I also don’t have an unlimited budget, and have to prioritise where to focus. We have to make sure that we are spending our money on things that our customers will benefit from, and that they want now. Timing is important – you can’t afford to be too far ahead of the market.

Thirdly, I also struggle to find time as much as everyone else does. I have to make time, as I usually find the new technology is a lot better, and easier to use, than I thought it would be.

What opportunities do you see with legal innovation?

Once you have a clear strategy – you know the outcomes you want to achieve, and why – you can take your pick! Firms can innovate to win more work, protect the work they have, make law affordable for those who can’t or won’t pay, change pricing models to fixed prices or retainers, work more seamlessly with clients, increase quality, reduce risk, get real work/life balance by getting hours of work done in minutes, delegate more (or if you are a younger lawyer, be able to do more of the job), attract and retain the best people. As one example, Auckland Council was recently offering exclusive panel appointments to firms offering real innovation, which I thought was great to see.

Overloaded in-house teams can bring more work in-house and still do it easily, and enable their businesses to do more themselves. We recently helped an in-house team reduce the time to prepare a 3910 construction contract from 4 hours to 1 hour (and hope to get that lower). Instead of each person being able to process 2 contracts (at best) per day, they could do 7 or more and still have lunch. This will have substantial benefits for their organisation and the people that organisation serves.

With greater adoption of tech and more innovation, how do you see your role evolving in the future?

We have two core parts to our business.

One is our online store, where people (including law firms that don’t have a precedent and/or automation) can buy a good legal document that they can really customise to suit their circumstances at a very low cost (usually under $50). We haven’t progressed this as much as we wanted to because the demand hasn’t been there and it is time consuming to develop documents for such broad use. We would like to partner more with law firms in particular areas to develop more of an overall solution – documents + legal advice. We’ve done this in the areas of wills, enduring powers of attorney and employment agreements.

The other side of our business is the custom automation of documents for customers. We started with a focus on law firms, but increasingly are working with in-house and procurement teams who have a greater immediate need and sense of urgency, and are closer to the real problems to be solved. We do expect to work more with law firms to identify and act on these opportunities together as that is what I think clients (and us) would really prefer, and law firms are starting to realise through tenders like Auckland Council’s that there is demand for it, and if they don’t do it, someone else will.

LawFest is focused on innovation and tech in the legal profession, why do you think it’s important for legal professionals to attend an event like LawFest?

One big benefit of an event like LawFest is the chance to learn from some really knowledgeable people who are at the forefront of a rapidly changing area, in a very time efficient way, but that isn’t the end of it.

I actually think a bigger advantage is in the networking, because it’s the combinations of people and technology that create the best solutions in each case.

At last year’s LawFest for example, we met two new organisations that we have since partnered with to develop joint solutions for particular areas of the market. One we planned to talk to, and the other was complete chance. Don’t just go to listen – make time to talk to people and find out what is really going on and how you can be part of it.

]]>https://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-gene-turner/feed/0Innovation Series – Shaun Planthttps://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-shaun-plant/
https://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-shaun-plant/#respondSun, 19 Nov 2017 20:05:53 +0000https://www.lawfest.nz/?p=2889The following is a part of a series of interviews with legal professionals and their experiences and interaction with innovation and technology in the legal sector. We hope you’ll get value from what others have learnt along the way and their recommendations. An interview with Shaun Plant, Legal Services Lead at Waikato Regional Council. What […]

]]>The following is a part of a series of interviews with legal professionals and their experiences and interaction with innovation and technology in the legal sector. We hope you’ll get value from what others have learnt along the way and their recommendations.

An interview with Shaun Plant, Legal Services Lead at Waikato Regional Council.

What has been your experience or interaction with legal innovation and technology?

I had a previous career as an engineer and professional project manager which has influenced how I think and behave as a lawyer. I have a particular passion for using process improvement to deliver better legal services and for the past four years I have been hosting workshops for legal professionals on the practical application of project management, Lean and Kanban. I am also a co-founder of LawVu, legal operations software, so legal innovation and technology is already inherent in how I practice law.

What changes have you seen in your firm, team or organisation recently?

One of our organisational goals is to deliver better services for our internal and external customers and we recognise that this can only be achieved through the use of technology and innovation. We’re moving towards using cloud-based software as a standard which when combined with portable devices provides the team with immediate access to a depth of tools and information. We use a range of legal and non-legal technology, such as Promapp to design and improve our business processes, Trello for workflow and of course LawVu for managing matters and work that is outsourced to external legal providers. Not only have these changes helped us to become more efficient in delivering legal services, but they have also helped to empower our 400+ clients to find solutions to routine problems freeing the legal team up to spend more time on more important matters.

What challenges or barriers do you face when innovating or looking to use new tech?

I am fortunate to work for an organisation whose culture encourages innovation and embraces change so there are few barriers towards adopting new technology or processes. However, balancing the time that is required to fully identify and assess potential technology whilst servicing the legal needs of the organisation is a huge challenge. You can’t introduce change without experiencing some discomfort so to overcome the temptation to stick with the norm, I try to build momentum by taking small steps to solve one problem at a time rather than trying to solve a larger number of problems in one go.

What opportunities do you see with legal innovation?

The biggest opportunity for me is to use process and technology to change the way that I work, by removing the parts of my role that I don’t enjoy so that I can spend more time doing the parts that I do. Key to that is providing customers with access to information so that they can make good decisions without the need for actual legal support. The use of collaborative tools will enable external legal providers to gain a better understanding of our business which should lead to improved legal services. I also see a huge opportunity in litigation which is one area where I see so much waste in terms of time and cost and I’m hopeful that the uptake of products like LawVu for transparently planning litigation process and strategy, and the online court process being driven by Judge David Harvey, will get some real traction.

With greater adoption of tech and more innovation, how do you see your role evolving in the future?

Technology and innovation are building capacity within the team so I see more work being brought back in-house, in particular being able to effectively unbundle projects will mean that only the truly specialised work will need to be outsourced. We are also starting to gather some useful and accurate data around the work that we are doing and I am sure this will lead to a stronger strategic aspect to my role.

LawFest is focused on innovation and tech in the legal profession, why do you think it’s important for legal professionals to attend an event like LawFest?

I attended the 2017 event and was impressed by the quality of speakers and exhibitors, and the wide range of attendees. It creates quality time so that you can give some real thought to new ideas, network with like-minded people and ask the exhibitors some real hard questions.

]]>https://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-shaun-plant/feed/0Innovation Series – Steven Moehttps://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-steven-moe/
https://www.lawfest.nz/innovation-series-steven-moe/#respondMon, 13 Nov 2017 20:39:33 +0000https://www.lawfest.nz/?p=2694The following is a part of a series of interviews with legal professionals and their experiences and interaction with innovation and technology in the legal sector. We hope you’ll get value from what others have learnt along the way and their recommendations. An interview with Steven Moe, Senior Associate, Parry Field Lawyers What has been your […]

]]>The following is a part of a series of interviews with legal professionals and their experiences and interaction with innovation and technology in the legal sector. We hope you’ll get value from what others have learnt along the way and their recommendations.

An interview with Steven Moe, Senior Associate, Parry Field Lawyers

What has been your experience or interaction with legal innovation and technology?

I returned to New Zealand after 10 years working for an international law firm (Norton Rose Fulbright) where I was one of 3,800 lawyers in 55 offices. That role took me as a corporate lawyer to work for several years in each of Tokyo, London and Sydney. So I’ve seen first-hand how the biggest law firms operate and push the boundaries by adopting new technology and trying new things. On returning to New Zealand last year I was really keen to explore what that might look like here too. The context for that exploration has been keeping this great quote from Joshua Gan at the front of mind: “Successful firms that are disrupted are not complacent or poorly managed. Instead, they continue on the path that brought them to success.”

What changes have you seen in your firm, team or organisation recently?

At the end of last year I got really tired of reading about disruption in every article but often with only speculation left as the takeaway about ‘what next’. So we investigated for ourselves what it might actually mean for a medium sized firm like ours (8 Partners, 40 staff). The direct result was this year taking concrete action and forming a joint venture company with software developers who had developed AI chat bots before. This software start-up has been a wild yet fun ride of learning and growth. It’s called Active Associate (https://activeassociate.com) and it is developing an AI-enabled customer engagement solution for law firms. This solution is addressing some serious pain points for medium size firms such as a high amount of time spent on non-billable work and difficulties in maintaining a client base that can support their billable targets. Consumers are able to access the solution 24×7 via Facebook Messenger and ‘widgets’ on a firm’s website from their phones, tablets or laptops, and interact with it using natural language to get quick helpful answers to their legal questions. While helping future and current customers, the solution captures user information which can then be delivered to the law firm increasing workflow efficiencies and reducing the wasted time dealing with tire kickers. We’ve had a warm reception from forward-looking law firms in NZ and Australia who have already become our Innovation Partners and those that are about to join the Programme (we are open to a few more at this stage).

What challenges or barriers do you face when innovating or looking to use new tech?

Understanding what is hype and what is reality – it’s a grey mist you have to really squint to see through. For example the term “AI” conjures up images for some people of robots taking our jobs when for the foreseeable future it is better to think of it as a description for natural interaction with consumers.

What opportunities do you see with legal innovation?

The next generations are first going to turn to their phones before they walk through the physical doors of an imposing looking law firm. It will be critical for those law firms who want to survive that they prepare and are ready to interact with that next gen thinking.

With greater adoption of tech and more innovation, how do you see your role evolving in the future?

My hope is that we focus more on the true value add that we can offer as professionals and get less tied down with the routine tasks that none of us really enjoy.

LawFest is focused on innovation and tech in the legal profession, why do you think it’s important for legal professionals to attend an event like LawFest?

It’s vital to stay in touch with the latest trends and developments and LawFest offers a great opportunity to hear from the best innovators in the field. By having a representative attend they can then go back and challenge the assumptions and old ways of thinking that will doom a law firm to irrelevance by just continuing to do what has worked in the past.